Page 264 of A Warrior's Fate

Kai cleared his throat, his shoulders rising and falling. “I just—did. He got tired, I guess.”

Isla narrowed her eyes, knowing he wasn’t being entirely truthful. “The poison she uses, it kills our wolves. That’s how it works. It breaks our bonds.”

“Our magic can’t break your bonds.” A voice came from behind her. Isla turned to find Raana looking less sick than she had. “I mean, maybe, what do you call them, chosen? Because those are fabricated, but true bonds like yours are a deity’s power. We can’t counter the gods—even though some of us think we can.”

Her features fell as she spoke, and Isla was surprised she knew so much about wolves and their bonds.

“So, the bond will come back?” She felt her face light up.

“It will probably heal as your wolf does,” Raana said. “It’s not dead, but it’s very, very hurt. I couldn’t do anything to it without risking you losing it all together or—changing it. You. I suspect it will recover on its own in time.”

Isla’s favorite phrase. Recover in time.

Kai’s loosened grip gave her the opportunity to find her footing. Her limbs felt unfamiliar beneath her, trembling and weak, but strong in new ways. She was about to say they needed to go when her fingers brushed against the fabric on her skin.

Fabric.

She hadn’t been wearing anything before.

The piece was heavy on her body, rigid with dried blood, and there was a tear on the side. This was the cloak her mother had been wearing.

Had she given this to her? Was she okay?

“Where are we?” Isla spun so fast that she fell, kept only on her feet by Kai who’d risen to stand beside her.

He appeared a bit dazed as if still trying to process, but made sure to catch her eyes. “Hey, Warrior Princess, you just nearly died. You need to slow down.”

She sighed. “We have to find Renoir. We can’t leave him down here.”

“Of course not.” Kai’s hand brushed her waist like he couldn’t stop himself from touching her. To make sure she was really there. For a brief second, he looked away from her. “What, uh, what do you want to do about your mother?”

Isla couldn’t miss the conflicted look in his eyes, and she had a horrible feeling this would be a battle for a while.

She looked at the cloak she was wearing and remembered the shame that had painted her mother’s face. All along, she’d been evading the witch and never revealed herself to Isla, to anyone. She’d wanted to remain hidden.

And maybe there was a selfish part of her that wanted to keep her hidden, too. To keep her safe.

She answered truthfully, “I don’t know.”

Finding their way out of the tunnels had been a nightmare, but when they finally breached the surface into the arena, Kai located the first guard he could and called off a search. Apparently, he’d had the whole pack scattered and looking for her.

So, their secret was out.

And soon, it was joined by more.

Because when he explained where Renoir’s body was located, he also explained the tunnels as he brought the rest of the guard that had gathered to it. He issued a new search for the witch, for the rogue that Isla had given a vague description of but refrained from mentioning the identified murderer of their late alpha.

They didn’t mask their scents when they finally settled back in the room they’d been waiting in before the fight, cleaning up and claiming new clothes. They knew that the news would spread that Isla had been found, so they waited.

She’d only just hidden away her mother’s cloak after changing into a tunic and pants she’d found when the door of the room was nearly broken down. More faces she never thought she’d glimpse again flooded the room.

Isla was the first target for the onslaught of embraces. Even Jonah hugged her. Ameera, too. Davina was a mess of joyous cries. One second, she was lifted by Rhydian, the next, her brother who she embraced with guilt in her heart for what she now knew. She cast a quick look at Raana and Kai as she hugged him, both sworn to absolute secrecy, for now. She didn’t know how she’d tell him but knew the second she did, he wouldn’t rest until he found Apolla and brought her home, whether she wanted to be tracked down or not.

“If you died, I would’ve killed you,” Adrien said, circling his arms around her.

Isla leaned into his chest, snickering, before noticing his attention had also drifted elsewhere to where Raana stood in the room’s corner.

The witch pretended she wasn’t paying attention to him, but Isla had been there before. Raana made the mistake of turning for a better glimpse at Adrien and accidentally met his eyes. She looked down, suddenly very interested in her shoes as she mumbled something under her breath. Adrien laughed, something sparking behind his eyes, and Isla bit the inside of her cheek.

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